StockNews.com Lowers W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Loop Capital cut W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their target price for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

GWW opened at $929.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $876.26. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 10,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth about $239,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.